Japanese Christian Martyrs Honored

We don't often think of Japan as being a part of the Christianized world, but it is.  Back in the 1600's there were so many Christian sin Japan (mainly due to the work of the Jesuits) that it became a political problem for the then warlords.  The city of Nagasaki was founded as a Christian city.  Our brothers and sisters were terribly persecuted as the warlords sought to eradicate Christianity from the island.

Pray for Japanese Christians, as they seem to honor God as a tiny minority in a land that has lost it's way spiritually.  The majority religion, Shinto, is a system of manners and superstitions that brings little enlightenment to those who follow it.  There is a reason why alcoholism and suicide are such large social problems in this land of the rising sun.  May The Son rise in Japan!

The Shack:
"Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions. Most emotions are responses to perception--what you think is true about a given situation. If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too. So check your perceptions, and beyond that check the truthfulness of your paradigms--what you believe. Just because you believe something firmly doesn't make it true. Be willing to reexamine what you believe. The more you live in the truth, the more your emotions will help you see clearly. But even then, you don’t want to trust them more than [the Holy Spirit]."

I first met Vladimir Khursin at Nazarene Theological Seminary, while he was their on a 2 week study trip. He was a thirtyish, black haired dark eyed handsome Ukranian man, friendly and easy company. I learned he was a pediatric surgeon working at the Kiev Children's Hospital, an obviously dedicated to the cases he worked with long term. Surprisingly being a surgeon doesn't pa so well in Ukraine so he supplemented his work with medical examinations for an insurance company to help the family budget. Being converted to the Lord and answering a call to ministry he became an assistant pastor at the Nazarene church in Kiev in addition to all his other duties - and was in the US studying towards ordination. As you might expect, he was a very bright man and learned easily.
He wrote me a couple of kind emails after we met sharing his delight at being a guest to a presidential prayer breakfast in the White House. His writing overflowed with real joy as he reported Condoleezza Rice sharing her testimony.
Vladimir died to us on Friday from a brain tumor, despite receiving excellent care in the US, paid for by generous donors.
He is safely home.
I thank God for the privilege of knowing him a little and being inspired by a life that was built on the Rock of Christ and displayed His love through every aspect of his life. In the final, eternal celebration at Christ's return, Vladimir will have a fine crown indeed, with every life he blessed a jewel that sparkles.

God you are my Father
Make everyone respect and deeply revere You, everywhere!
Rule over everything – may it be soon!
May all of life and creation be full of Your wonderful character – Justice, Mercy and Peace!

BUT LORD – what I see around me and within me looks very far short of such a wonderful vision.

While we faithfully wait for the end of these evil days, and Your return….

I see hunger in the world – feed those empty bodies
I see hunger in me that the world cannot satisfy – come fill me Lord.

I find disobedience and resistance to you within my body and mind. Forgive me and accept me again, Lord.
I see evil and hatred in the world around me – forgive and clean this world Lord, even as You have me.
I get hurt by people who are close to me Lord. Even the systems of the world have hurt me Lord. I need fresh mercy from You to forgive them, and to forgive myself too, Father.

You know God, how vulnerable I am to failure, to weakness. In my deep places, I’m fragile. Father, protect me. Keep the sharp edges and the lure of destructive things far away from me. Sometimes, when necessary, Protect me even from myself, dear God.

God, Father, without You I am short lived and irrelevant. All that is good comes from You. You are the source of all life, the reason for my hope, and in the end, I exist only to worship You and be loved by You. Holy Spirit, come upon me and change my fallen perspectives. Let me understand profoundly, as You do, myself, the world and the people around me.

These things are true. They are true for me, yes, but even without me, I say these things are still true.
Amen.

"It may have been a church full of pedophiles and criminals covering up other criminals' sins … it may have been a church riddled with hypocrisy, deceit, and corruption … but our mega-church experience taught us that we were captive Catholics," he wrote.

Well, it's hardly a ringing endorsement of his choice to be a Roman Catholic, but it does seem like one of Hollywood's edgier scriptwriters has had a profound encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ and given his life to Christ.

http://catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13679

Note how he has changed and just doesn't want to think on the darkness of life any more. Amen!

This is a criticism on the youtube video accessed at this link

www.saintbirgitta.com is overlaid across the bottom of the video. This is a web site run by Swedish monks promoting the writings of the Roman Catholic Saint Bridget.

Here is a list of the accusations that the speaker makes against Disney. The small bullet points are my responses.

· There are levels of Satanism, Witchcraft, Pornography and Spiritism present in Disney’s videos

· The Little Mermaid, 3rd column from the right is and erect phallus – a video of child pornography

o See http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/mermaid.asp. I would not have notice that resemblance. Did you notice that when the film was in the cinemas?

· The Little mermaid, a Jamaican group is singing words to curse every child listening to the video.

o I can find no evidence for this assertion.

· Aladin: if played in slow motion a voice can be hears saying “Good teenagers, take off your clothes”, which cannot be made out at normal speeds

o See http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/aladdin.asp. It is an odd piece of sound but I can’t make out the word Teenagers. In any case, who would ever notice it an normal speed?

· Pocahontas is an ‘Indian’ word with two meanings” Poca mean ‘Spirit’ and Hontas means ‘Abyss’. If you say Pocahontas you are invoking the Devil from the Abyss to the side of your children.

o I can find no evidence for this assertion.

· That TIME magazine called the Lion King “the most dirty, most perverse and most cgarged with violence than any other video Disney has produced”. That children who watch the Lion King today will be the murderers of tomorrow.

o I’ve searched on TIME magazine’s website and can find only complimentary reviews of The Lion King.

· John Smith, the producer of the Lion King is a homosexual man who died of AIDS in New York, and made the lion walk effeminately.

o Nobody called john Smith was involved in the Lion King at all. (see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/fullcredits and http://www.lionking.org/endcredits.html ) .

o The Lion King was produced by Don Hahn assisted by Alice Dewey , Sarah McArthur and Thomas Schumacher.

o Kevin Smith animated the adult Simba, and he is happily still alive and working. (See http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1918990/)

· The music for The Lion King is “of the new age of Shirley Mclain”, hooks children to the screen, is from Hell, and is dedicated to the devil.

o I can find no evidence for this assertion/rant. Tim Rice is a successful Lyricist and Elton John is a successful performer. I’m not a big fan of either but I have no evidence the score is from hell.

· The Lion King a cloud of dust can be construed to spell out the word SEX.

o See http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.asp. It doesn’t look like letters to me. If anything the theory that it says SFX as a self-congratulatory message from the Special Effects department is more convincing.

· James Dobson, of Focus on the Family has written a report concerning a Disney video “Growing Up Gay’ introduced by Mickey Mouse. That Disney has created two gay Mickey’s and two lesbian Minnies. In the video a Disney spokesman invited all male teenagers to explore the “wonderful world of homosexuality”.

o I can find nothing about this on Focus On The family’s web site. One comment I found on FotF is their support for an end to the boycott against Disney! I have emailed Focus On The Family’s information line for further comment.

· Michael Eisner owns 60% of Disney stock; left his wife (in Burbank) and married a homosexual man at Disney World, Orlando FL 3 months ago.

o In truth, Michael Eisner is married to Jane Breckenridge and has been since 1967. He was very well paid during his 20 years with Disney, and I don’t know his stock holding but it’s not credible that a single private individual owns 60% of this giant publically traded stock. He doesn’t work at Disney any more.

· Disney is a satanic empire, intent on destroying your home and children.

o This is obviously one opinion. My opinion is that they are an essentially worldly family entertainment company. I prefer Veggie Tales myself.

· His advice is to destroy all copies of Disney videos you may have.

o I don’t condone ‘book burning’. What entertainment we allow in our homes is something that parents need to prayerfully consider. I choose not to buy Disney products. But my reasoning isn’t to do with satan. It’s to do with a poor depiction (or frequently no depiction at all) of fathers in families in Disney products. I think Veggie Tales and Pixar creations are far superior.

It's Wednesday morning and the reality of what just happened on Sunday is sinking in. That it was just a land mark moment in our church - which means in my family and in my life too. We won't have another Sunday quite like that - maybe for ever. I am very happy. Here's why:

1) 16 families have made a huge, deep, sacrificial commitment to God, but specifically to be deeply involved TOGETHER to build the Kingdom of Jesus Christ here in Londonderry, and LCN. That blows me away. It wasn't long ago that we had perhaps 6 families that were 'core'. Now we have 16. That's so far. And there are potentially 9 or 10 more that are still praying and considering their pledges. I can begin to imagine what God can do with 16. 20 full-on committed families. When I match that thought with the depth of talent and skills in us....wow. Then I pull back for a moment and look around the church as we interact. Gentleness, kindness, involvement,...love. Jesus is here - He is walking through our church.

2) Yes, I suppose we have to talk about money - because we live in a world where ministry costs money. So far, as of last night, $213,000 pledged. We only need another $119K to get this building started. That's peanuts. God, has showered his blessing on us just like the morning rain on Sunday. We can do this. The whole thing is being provisioned by Him. I believe that the money is nothing to God. He wants our commitment.

3) The actual Celebration Sunday was something very special. It seemed everyone was doing something. How can you thank a whole church for their careful planning, time, excellence and most of all loving kindness?

Just when all this is sinking in I had a conversation yesterday with a wonderful brother who always blesses me. As we leaned against his truck, he spoke quietly about the hunger all around us. I heard his sense of deep urgency to get this ministry building started, finished, and get the ministries rolling, get the community to hear the gospel, to see lives changed for Jesus. "If only we have done this a year ago" he said. I love his focus. It was another moment where I heard Jesus speaking. I've heard that 'voice' in so many ways this past few weeks. It's not just that The Call is God calling us to ministry. It's Him calling us together.

Lord, I'm amazed by grace.

Today I start a new journey, as I try to settle into a new life-rhythm in which I spend Friday's intentionally in the presence of God. of course, he is always with us, but we are not always focused on Him. i hope I will become a more mature Christ Follower and a better pastor.

Here is a great scripture to think on. It's the opening lines from the opening psalm - the hymn book of the Bible:

¹ Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

We start by walking with non Christ Followers, then we stop and stand with them, and eventually we end up sitting with them. It's a progression. How true it is that we become like the people we spend time with. The converse, happily, is true. If we spend time with other Christ Followers, and especially, spend time with God Himself, then we become more like them, Him. Today I will take time to meditate, consider, mull over, enjoy, relish, God's TORAH (law) perhaps better expressed as His Word - His will, His - self.

Let me be blessed, Father, as I delight in Your Word - Jesus Christ. Let me meditate on Him while shopping, doing some housework, gardening, writing, calling brethren, planning, singing, and other acts of life-worship. Amen.

Today we start The Call - 6 weeks of capital stewardship at LCN. This is the first capital stewardship campaign i have ever been involved with. i confess I am very wary when a church asks for money - normally it means they have lost priorities. But since this is a Call to build a ministry center that the whole church has been behind for more than 6 years - I'm fully behind it.

Then. Surprise! It begins to become clear that capital stewardship campaigns are about way more than the money. Indeed I'm beginning to think that if we were to measure success, perhaps the money raised would not be the first metric we would use.

Today i saw artists in our church produce brilliant materials - banners, beautiful mailers, brochures, testimony pieces, and video. Everybody is wowed. Those with gifting of administration have marshalled a hundred interweaving details (1 Corinthians 12:28). Musicians outdid themselves, Worship planners showed spiritual finesse, event organizers did brilliantly, and everyone brought food and friendship as a couiple of new families came into our orbit.

God is truly doing a deeper work here, and I LOVE to feel His breath upon us!

Let the adventure begin!

PS In case you think I am lost in spiritual abstractness - I am also getting through a third day of mild yuck. My temp is 100.4 today and I'm living on Theraflu drinks. Doesn't stop me praising though! Thank you Lord for the prayers of my church family.

I'm writing a sermon while raking my lawn. The passages are about 'love'. I suddenly realize how utterly inadequate a word 'love' is for such a complex and full reality. We need about 12 words for love - at least. Agape, eros, filio won't even cover it. But oh, agape. Godly love - the love that is the source of all loves. How rich it is.
So I'm making a list of the attributes of love, but realize that i can't do this while raking. by the time I get part way through the list, I've forgotten which ones I thought of first.
What then, is love? I'm thinking through all of the repercussions of having someone other than myself at the center of my actions.
Love Divine, all loves excelling...

Back to blogging. I'm surprised that anyone reads this, but since some do - I'll carry on!

This week I have been turning over a thought in my mind, as I consider my own life, our church, and the lives of some who are dear to me:

Is it better for a life to be driven from behind by circumstance, or to be invited forward by vision?

When honest, my own life displays characteristics of both. I am a product of my past, as well as shaped by the future. Some whom I love seem entirely shaped by their circumstances and history, devoid of the call of the future. Especially the youthful, which amazes me. Until recently, the young were always the idealistic who drove change in society. Today's 20-somethings are so often devoid of hope, unable to define success for themselves, and driven by unspoken - perhaps unspeakable fears. As I approach 50, I am more and more pulled forward by God's vision for me, and for our church, and happy to shake off the shackles of the past, as much as God has loosed those old responsibilities.

Many leading Christian writers are talking about an 'ancient future' for the church. I like that. God is newing the old again, ever new. May you know the call of God on your sensibilities this week.